WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW REGARDING PRE-EXISTING INJURIES

AND HOW THEY CAN AFFECT YOUR CASE

One of the impediments that oftentimes presents itself in a car accident car crash case in Florida and is used by defense counsel to aggressively defend against car crash injury claims, is the pre-existing injury defense. What your attorney has to understand is that a pre-existing injury defense can be mitigated by the eggshell plaintiff doctrine. The egg shell plaintiff doctrine says that if you are a person who has a pre-existing injury that is exacerbated by a subsequent injury that does not give the wrong doer a free pass from responsibility.

For example, if you had a herniated disc in your lower back and you were hit in a rear end collision and the herniated disc grew worse, got more painful, became less manageable and that resulted in you being forced to undergo surgery; Or if prior to the accident with your existing injury you were able to carry on your daily activities with some level of success; but subsequent to the impact you have a further agitation of the injury which creates an additional disruption in your daily activities; that does not give the defendant an opportunity to seek a break from responsibility. Perhaps, the most considerable issue is the presentation of objective medical evidence showing that there has been additional deterioration of body, organ, or tissue function which was brought about by the subsequent injury. Needless to say, that subsequent injury in the midst of litigation can present a problem both for you, the car accident litigant, and your attorney for the purposes of jury presentation. Therefore, it is important that you immediately and fully disclose all pre-existing injuries to your attorney.